Jim
Grant's Tech TipsBelow is a collection of Jim Grant's Tech Tips sorted by Vehicle
Make. These Tech Tips were answers to questions submitted to Jim by ALLDATAdiy.com
users over the course of many years. If you have any questions,
please feel free to email
us.

Q:I have
owned a '98 Ford Contour for 1 year. The ABS light has been on since I
first drove it home and the dealership guarantees me that nothing is wrong
with the brakes. Just a light problem. I took it back last Saturday for
a check engine light that is on, the temperature arm does not work, the
clock does not light up and there is as recall on the heater. I received
a call today that I needed to approve $149 for diagnostics, at $70 per
hour. Is that not excessive? I thought diagnostics only took about 30
minutes. I purchased insurance coverage on the auto and I am only suppose
to pay a $100 deductible. Is this not part of my deductible? What is normal
for diagnostic charge and time? Thank you for your information.

-
Margaret

A:First,
you should read the fine print of your insurance policy. Most of those
policies clearly state they do not cover diagnosis. I'll tell you right-up
front, I'm not a big fan of these insurance/extended warranty type deals.
It's a good profit center for the seller and a pain for the consumer when
the time comes to use it. With that out of the way, let's talk about that
ABS light. First, your brakes are not operating as designed if the ABS
warning light is on!!! I'm sure if the owner of the dealership got wind
of his/her service people telling a customer that there is not a brake
problem with a vehicle with an ABS warning light blaring, some cow patties
would hit the fan. In the event of an accident, if this is a documented
statement, the lawyers would have a bidding war to have you as a client!
As for diagnostic time, I wish for the day that diagnosis would only take
30 minutes. I love it when I can nail down a problem in less than 30.
I don't know of many techs that would not agree with me! We like fixing
vehicles and moving to the next problem. Not getting headaches and gray
hair trying to figure out some twisted electrons. Example, I had a vehicle
with an ABS problem that made it's way to our shop. The computer was insisting
there was a failed electrical component! It sure was a failed component,
the problem was the computer! But the computer was insisting that there
was nothing wrong with it and it was something else. Even the diagnostic
flow charts in the repair manual teamed up with the computer stating replace
the other part. Allowing 2 to even 3 hours for diagnostic time is real
on today's computerized vehicles. In the end, yes your ABS brakes are
broken, the policy probably doesn't cover diagnostics and the check engine
light is another problem. Yeah, it was rough at work this week..